Taco Soup - GAPS and Paleo friendly! {A New Favorite Recipe}

This was one of my experiments this past week, and it turned out amazing!!  We all loved it!  My husband and sister said that it is one of (if not the best) soups I've ever made.  We were so excited to eat this since all taco soup recipes I have ever encountered are full of GAPS and Paleo no-no's like corn, beans, and sometimes rice.  This was so filling, even without all that stuff!

The great thing about a soup like this is that you can really put any amounts of veggies or meat into it - whatever you like and sounds good to you!  You can use more or less of any vegetable, and it would still turn out fantastic.  You could also probably throw some cabbage or spinach or kale in there (although I haven't tried that).  I bet you could even easily sneak a little ground liver in... ;-) And if you eat beans, properly soaked and cooked black beans would be super yummy in here. 

What makes this soup is homemade beef broth (I am going to share my broth making process this week!) and the herbs and spices.  Never underestimate the power of homemade broth!!!

Taco Soup {Recipe - GAPS (Stage 3+), Paleo}

Ingredients: 

• 3-4 Tbsp of any fat: butter/tallow/lard/coconut oil
•  1 1/2 lbs ground beef (or combination beef and pork)
•  3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (or 2 small - medium)
• 1 cup sliced/chopped carrots
• 3 stalks celery, sliced (omit if not tolerated yet on GAPS intro)
• 2 small-medium turnips, diced (or 1 large)
• 4-10 tomatoes (4 large, 6 medium, 8 of the size on the vine, 10 Roma tomatoes, you get the idea), chopped
• 6 cups homemade beef broth

• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Celtic or Himalayan or Real Salt, to taste (we used about 1 Tbsp - our broth was unsalted)

Optional: Top with sour cream (or yogurt), raw cheddar cheese, and avocado.  

Instructions: 

• Melt the fat in a warm dutch oven or soup pot (I always warm my pot up on medium heat).  Brown and crumble the ground beef.  Since the soup will cook more, the meat doesn't have to cook all the way, so you can proceed whenever it is browned enough to be crumbled.  Add garlic, onion, carrots, celery, and turnips.  I also like to add in all the spices/herbs at this point, although you really can add it at any point, as long as you have it in there before simmering.  Stir and cook about 5-10 minutes or so.
• Add chopped tomatoes and broth (and seasonings if you haven't already).  Simmer at least 20-30 minutes to let flavors mingle and until all veggies are cooked.  Adjust any seasonings to taste (most importantly salt - you don't want too little or way too much!).  I usually start with 1 tsp and then adjust upwards to taste.
• This made our dutch oven completely full of soup!  Top with desired toppings and serve! 

Note on spices: I actually only used 1 tsp (yes, teaspoon!) of chili powder.  I ran out!  Plus, we have some wimpy spice tolerances in this home (um, me), so I never use much chili powder.  If you want more spice, just add more chili powder!  You could also add more pepper if you really like pepper.  :-)